Internal combustion engine



2 Sheets-Sheet l elder/map.

May 1, 1934. J. D. INGRAM INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed April 25,1932 May 1, 1934. J. D. INGRAM INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed April25, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 momma Patented May 1934 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE 1,956,922 INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Joseph D. Ingram, La Jolla,Calif. Application April 25, 1932, Serial No. 607,388

6 Claims.

This invention relatesto internal combustion engines of that typeutilizing a plurality of cylinders extending outwardly from a crank casewhereby the connectingrods of the pistons in the cylinders can all bemounted so as to exert successive driving forces upon the. crank in thecase.

One of the objects of the invention is to increase the leverage exertedfrom each piston upon the crank without necessitating the lengthening ofthe crank.

A further object is to so arrange the cylinders that their longitudinalaxes will be along lines extending in advance of the axis of rotation ofthe crank whereby the crushing and crystallizing effect resulting fromfiring on dead centers is practically overcome. I

A still further object is to utilize a resilient master connecting rodjoining the crank to a guide piston at one end and to the severaldriving connecting rods at its other end whereby a cushioning action isset up for relieving side thrusts upon the guide piston resulting fromthe successive applications of power to the crank end of the resilientmaster rod.

A further object is to provide a novel form of yokehead on the resilientmaster rod to which the connecting rods of the power piston areconnected, the points of connection being so located as to insuremaximum leverage upon the crank before the initial force of theexplosion in each cylinder is expended.

Another object is to lighten the motor, increase the life thereof byeliminating many of the strains to which a motor of this general type issubjected and to reduce the amount of fuel required for operation.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made'within thescopeof what is c'iaimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.

In said drawings;

Figure 1 is a central vertical section through the motor, some of thecylinders being in elevation and some of them being broken away.

Figure 2 is a view showing in diagram the action of each power piston-inexerting a thrust in advance of the dead center so as to vary the leverage upon the crank shaft.

Figure 3 is an enlarged view partly in central vertical section andpartly in side elevation of the resilient master rod.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the yoke-head of the master rod the couplingpins being removed.

Figure 5 is a section through one of th pins.

Referring to the figures by characters of ence, 1 designates a crankcase concentric w e yoke referith the bearings 2 of a. crank shaft 3 andthis crank case is provided at intervals in its periphery with openings4 in which are mounted the inner ends of cylinders 5. the crank case bybolting flanges 6 thereto.

These cylinders can be secured to When the cylinders are properlylocated their longitudinal axes will be out of line with the axis 0 frotation of crank shaft 3 and, as indicated particularly in Figure 2,each longitudinal axis a is ex tended in advance of the axis of rotationof the shaft and at no time alines with crank '7.

An elongated cylinder 8 is extended from the crank case 1 and has itsinner portion preferably flared toward the crank case, as shown at'9. Inthis cylinder 8 is mounted a guide piston 10 the pin 11 of which isembraced by opposed yokes 12 each located at one end of a laminated 13.tended into a socket 14 formed by opposed spring The other ends of thetwo springs are explates 15 and these plates, in turn, are provided withopposed semi-cylindrical port-ions 16 which cooperate to form a bearingsleeve.

In addition to the bolts 1'7 which are used for holding the yokes orsplit sleeve 12 in engagement with pin 11, the plates 15 are boltedtogether close to opposed portions of the sleeve shown at 18. throughthe socket l4 and those portions springs therein.

Additional bolts 19 are extended of the As an additional means forholding the plates 15 together they are straddled by a clip 20 thethreaded ends of which are extended through a clamping plate 21 andengaged by nuts 22.

tric with sleeve 16. If desired those ends of the flanges remote fromsocket 14 can be formed with alining sleeves 25 for receiving tie boltswch thus constitute a further means for pr spreading of sleeve 16.Sleeve 16, plates 15 and flanges 23 form a yoke and the laminatedsprings 13 constitute a resilient master rod which connects this yoke tothe pin 11 in piston 10.

Each of the cylinders 5 has a power piston 27 mounted for reciprocationtherein and the pin 28 in each cylinder has a connecting rod 29 whichextends inwardly from its cylinder and into a space between the flanges23 of the yoke. The openings 24 in these flanges provide seats for theends of tubular bearing members 30 through which pins 31 are extended,these pins having heads 32 at one end and washers 33 at their other endfor laping the outer sides of the flanges and holding the sleeves 30against displacement. Each pin 31 and its washer 33 can be fastened inplace by a nut 34.

Each of the bearing sleeves 30 is engaged by one of the connecting rods29and, as shown partlcularly in Figure 2, when a connecting rod isextended axially of its cylinder, as at the instant of firing, thecenter line thereof is not on a dead center with the crank '7 butextends in advance of the crank so that the explosive force will notexert a crystallizing or crushing effect upon the'parts but will, on thecontrary, be expended with a powerful leverage effect on the crank,which leverage will increase as the force of the explosion diminishes.For example, as the piston 27 moves inwardly the point of connection 31with the yoke will move with gradually increasing speed in the directionof rotation of the crank. For example; should the pin 31 move from pointb to point e, the distance thus travelled would be twice the distancefrom d to e travelled by the crank '7. Thus the leverage exerted is muchgreater than that which could be obtained by any direct connectionbetween the connecting rod 29 and the crank '7 because the thrust isalong. lines more remote from the dead center.

The several pistons operate in rapid succession, the action of eachpiston being duplicated by that of the others. Obviously the exertion ofthrust along lines in advance of the point of connection between theyoke and the crank will tend to set up an excessive transverse pressure,

or whipping action -upon the guide piston 10. This isgreatly reduced,however, by utilizing the resilient master rod 13 which acts as a shockabsorber and insures smooth and quiet operation. It is evident that byusing along master rod the movement of the yoke out of the plane of itspiston will be correspondingly reduced, thereby reducing the ellipticcircles and side thrust that destroy balance at high speed. The averageservice plane wears out three motors, due mostly to the fact that theyoke is attached to a short power rod.

The pin 31 is located at a distance from the point d equal to thedistance of said point (1 from the axis of shaft 3 and the distancebetween point d and the nearest point I of the path g described by pin31 is one-fourth of the smallest diameter of said path. See Figure 2.The path a intersects circle h described by point d, as shown in Figure2. Consequently the back pressure set up by those pistonsj27whereexhaust and compression is taking place will be greatly reduced ascompared with engines in which the connecting rods are attached directlyto the crank shaft.

In an engine constructed as described, at least two pistonswillconstantly transmit power in substantially the same direction to drivethe crankshaftandtoexert alateralthrustagainst themasterconnecting rod13audits piston 10. "nnisflmeisnodangerofthismasterrodexerting a whippingor slapping action such as would occur should the power be transmittedabruptly and intermittently from the pistons to the yoke Importance isattached to the fact that while pin 31 travels in a path which iseccentric to shaft 3 the group of paths and piston assembly are balancedexactly off center of the crank shaft. A by-pass 35 is mounted incylinder 8 so as to permit free reciprocation of piston 10 when desired.

What is claimed is:

1. An engine of the class described including a crank case, a crankshaft therein, cylinders extending outwardly from the case with theirlongitudinal axes out of line with the axis of rotation of the shaft,pistons mounted for reciprocation in the cylinders, a yoke mounted onthe crank of the shaft, connecting rods joining the pistons to the yoke,the point of connection between each rod and the yoke being in advanceof the dead center of the crank shaft, and resilient shock absorbingmeans for restraining the yoke against rotation upon the crank.

2. An engine of the class described including a crankcase, a crank shafttherein, cylinders extending outwardly from the case with their1ongitudinal axes out of line with the axis of rotation of the shaft,pistons mounted on the crank of the shaft, connecting rods joining thepistons to the yoke, the point of connection between each 1 rod and theyoke being in advance of the dead center of the crank shaft, shockabsorbing means for restraining the yoke against rotation upon thecrank, including a stationary cylinder, a piston mounted forreciprocation therein and a re- 11 silient master rod connected to theyoke and.pivotally joined to said piston.

, 3. In an engine of the class described the combination with a shafthavingv a crank, a crank case housing the crank and cylinders extendingoutwardly from the case, of power pistons mounted for reciprocation inthe cylinders along lines out of line with the dead center of the crank,a yoke mounted on the crank, a resilient shock ab sorbing master rodrigidly connected to the yoke 1 and mounted to oscillate andreciprocate, and rods connecting the power pistons to the yoke at pointsspaced from the center of the crank a distance equal to that between thecenter of the crank and the axial center of the shaft, each of saidpoints being in advance of dead center of the crank whereby the point ofconnection between the connecting rod and the yoke will travel at twicethe speed of the axial center of the yoke, during the power stroke.

4. An engine of the class described including a shaft having a crank, asplit yoke carried by the crank, a resilient master rod'fixedlyconnected to the yoke, a cylinder, a piston in the cylinder andconnected to the master rod whereby reciprocation and oscillation ofthe'yoke is set up by rotation of the crank, fixed cylinders, powerpistons therein,'connecting rods extending from said pistons, and meansjoining each connecting rod to the yoke at a point out of line with thedead center of the crank and in the direction of rotation of the crankwhen the piston of said rod is at its point of maximum compressionwhereby said point of connection is caused to travel in a pathintersecting the path of movement of the said rods at points in advanceof the dead center of the crank and guiding the points of connection inpaths eccentric to the shaft thereby to increase crank vantage on thepower strokes and reduce back pressure vantage by each piston during itsexhaust and compression strokes, said means including a yoke on thecrank, a resilient master rod fixed to and extending from the yoke andmounted for oscillation and reciprocation, and a stationary guide forthe outer end of the master rod.

6. An engine including a shaft having a crank, radial cylinders, pistonsin the cylinders, con-

